Ashes of a Hero (On Reserve)
by The Twin Wraiths
Summary: It had been years since I had seen the sun, trapped in the depths of a world I saved, that is until four girls freed me, finally I will be able to experience life again, and I shall cherish the second chance fate has bestowed me. (Message for new comers and lovers of the story)
1. A Phoenix From Ash

**So, this little thing is here to tide you guys over until the poll is over, and the first chapter of the story made, yes I know, I take too long to upload n' such but bear with me, when the next story comes around I'm planing on making a doozy.**

 **Sorry if this is kinda a wall of text.**

 **this takes place a little into the events of season 2.**

It had been years since Ruby Rose had heard the story, but anyone on remnant probably remembers the it, one of a legendary warrior, a knight, with the strongest soul and aura that ever existed, that had sacrificed himself in a torrent flame to save the world and push back the Grimm, and as great as the story was, It was only used as a tale to children to glorify a hero that probably never even existed in the first place!

But somehow she couldn't help but feel like it was true, she had always believed in stories, even if they were meant for children and supposed to be nothing but a story for a wonderful glorifying tale of a non existent being, she was exploring in deepest depths the Emerald Forest with her team, Weiss Schnee, the cold crabby girl that warmed up to the rest of the team, Blake Bellodona, The nice but also quiet, moody, edge lord of the team, Yang Xiaolong, The pun making brawler of the group, the one always trying to lift the spirits of everyone else on the team, and lastly herself, Ruby Rose, cookie eater, friend maker, and shy leader, desperately trying to enforce her power of leader to hold the team together, because as-of right now they were all bickering except for her, but she had thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye so she went to check on it, leaving her teammates arguing about what way was back to Beacon Academy so they could clock in because it was getting dark, and they wouldn't be able to fight off all of the Grimm that would come after them once night fell.

So focused on arguing, they forgot about their leader all together until she came bounding into they clearing they decided to stop in, shouting to get their attention, causing Yang to turn from Weiss and Blake, who were still trying to prove the other was wrong, to address her bouncing young sister.

"What is it Rubes?" The elder sibling stared at the younger with an annoyed look on her face, but Ruby was still bouncing like a basketball, which finally garnered the attention of Weiss and Blake, who also turned questioning looks towards the bubbling young girl that seemed like she couldn't control herself, until Yang grabbed her and stopped her from continuing, "Ruby, what is it?"

"Over there, it's so SO cool, you guys just _have_ to see it, come on what are you standing there for let's go!" Ruby had already wriggled through the arms of her older sister, and sprinted off out of the clearing, forcing her teammates and sister to put all they had into running to catch up-to the little blur of a girl, the only reason they were able to get to her was of the small trail of rose petals she left in her wake, when they found it, it had led off into a small cave, so they had no choice but to follow the small red reaper into the depths of the cave, lighting the little glowsticks they had brought with them, until they found Ruby at the end of the cave, glowstick alight, staring at a massive stone door that was easily 12 feet tall.

"Ruby, just what did you find, it-it's huge!" Weiss yelled, from at the back of the group causing Yang to let out a giggle thanks to her somewhat juvenile attitude, and small smile out of Blake at the dirty thoughts her teammate had, before getting a death glare from the Schnee, which only made Yang to bust out into full on laughter at her short friend's anger.

"What is it Ruby?" Blake quietly asked while Yang was trying to fend off the agitated Schnee by feigning innocence.

"I don't know what It Is, but when I walked close, I heard a click sound, l-like a door unlocking or something, I don't know but I think we are the first people to find it and it's SO COOL!" The young team leader had stars in her eyes as she was so desperately trying to convey emotions into words, to find a up-until-then undiscovered relic is quite a feat on remnant, especially if it's inside of the Emerald Forest, an area that has been explored practically from top to bottom over the years.

"Should we try to open it?" Yang looked over to the others wanting their approval, she probably had the strength or firepower to open It, and if she didn't, Weiss could probably freeze it and _then_ they could smash it, but that would take a lot of dust.

"I don't think so, we should go back to beacon and report it to headmaster ozpin." Weiss replied to Yang, hoping she would listen.

"Why should we do that, if we tell him, he'll probably say that we should stay away and we'll never see what's inside, I could be masses of treasure or some other kind of very expensive thing, think about it Weiss, imagine the possibilities." Yang had her hand splayed out gesturing to imaginary things that no one else could see.

Blake wasn't saying anything, absorbed in her own thoughts about what to do, but once again while they were all distracted Ruby had slipped away and had walked up to the door, she was so incredibly close to the massive structure, she reached out and touched it with her hand, the second she did her soul started to glow bright as a star, blinding the rest of her team, and when the smoke had cleared so-to-speak, all of team RWBY stood mouths agape, as the massive stone door started to slide open on it's own, and Ruby turned back to the rest with the most incredibly shy expression on her face.

"U-uh, the doors, uh, opened." was all she could manage, to say to her teammates, but they didn't reply, they were looking behind her, there jaws almost touching the floor, as if seeing some grand masterpiece, and she was honestly confused, she turned around to see what they were looking at and she _was not_ disappointed by what she saw.

The door had opened and inside was a beautiful sight, on the other side of those doors was a staircase that led into a huge open space covered in what looked like very thick layers of ash and pillars of some kind of stone or metal jutting out with what looks like streaks coming off them like they had been quickly melted then froze by some powerful heat and cold at the same time, and it was also somehow bright enough for them to see without the glowsticks even though they were deep inside a cave.

They had started walking down the stairs, the discussion of telling the headmaster forgotten in the wake of the gorgeous and destroyed landscape that laid before them, but they had quickly got their weapons out when they saw a figure emerge from the fog that surrounded them on both sides, but as they prepared themselves, it just walked pass them as if unaware of their presence, and as they stood there wondering what that being was, another was coming directly towards them from their left side, but as it got close it passed through them, so they lowered their guard, these things could not see them nor touch them, so they walked pass the figures that seemed to give off some kind of reverent feeling, they also noticed that not only did they have varied weapons, said weapons taking the from of a straight sword, a giant great sword, a halberd, and some kind of massive axe, but they were also much taller than the girls, easily standing at around nine feet in height, with these strange horned helmets adorning their heads, all four of them did not speak while in here, not wanting to risk disturbing these ghosts, of a long forgotten past.

They had made it through the small tunnel to a wide open and ash covered area that looked like some kind of shrine, with those burnt towers like fingers stretching across the entire area, jutting high out of the ash, and they could see the massive spire like structure in the middle of it all, a great monument of power and beauty,a magnificent creation of a time long ago and long forgotten, and as they stepped across the large plane that was laid out before them the only sound was their quiet breathing and the sound of ash crunching beneath their feet as the stalked across the barren landscape.

They walked pass a large block of stone and saw one of those spectral knights from the staircase, but it _wasn't_ spectral it was real, and laying in the ash right in front of them practically in pieces from time rotting it away and it was the color of a dark brownish-black, and it's sword was laying on the ground much farther away, and the cause of the knights death, if it had ever lived, was the hole in the middle of it's chest plate, and as they looked up they saw the remains of many other knights much like it scattered everywhere, whatever had fought these knights was powerful and determined to make it through, it was this thought that made them all pause, whatever it was that destroyed these knights could still be in here, but Ruby finally broke the silence.

"Hey Yang?" The elder sister turned her head to the younger. "do you remember that old story that Taiyang told us when we were young?"

Yang stared down at Ruby "Dad told us a lot of stories when we were kids, what are you talking about."

"The really old one Yang, the one about that knight that sacrificed himself to save the world."

"what about it Ruby?" Yang asked, wondering where her little sis was going with this.

"Well, didn't he say something about an ancient ash covered tower, guarded by black knights, and in the center of that tower was the great fire that started all life, ringing any bells now Yang." The agitated girl waited for her teammates to catch what she was throwing.

"So your saying." Weiss began.

"That, that old story from almost everyone's childhood." Blake continued.

"Wasn't a story, and we are in the very same place where all life began, and where an ancient hero might still be alive, deeper inside?" Yang finished, and Ruby nodded realizing she had just blown her friends minds, as well as her own.

"Well, if that's the case, we need to keep going, I am not going to waste the chance to make history, and I don't think any of you will either." Weiss looked to her friends, a glint of giddiness easy to see in her eyes as she started walking towards the massive ruin in the center, the rest followed, crossing the bodies of more knights, and even one or two on a large metal beam, which was the only way to cross over to the structure, the way up was destroyed so they had to travel down the spiral and as they got closer, they could feel a presence in the air, a strong soul residing at the base of the tower, and when they got to the bottom after walking past even more knights, they came face to face with the skeleton of a very large man, he stood taller than the knights, with a crown on his head and snow white hair still attached to his skull, along with massive sword, which most likely belonged to him, laid on his chest like some kind of burial rite, even in this desiccated form he gave of an air of that demanded respect and proper treatment, they walked around his body reverently, obviously not wanting to disturb the dead, and they found themselves at the entrance to a large doorway.

The team of young girls looked at each other with faces of worry, but also ones of determination to find out what lies in the heart of this shrine.  
They crossed the boundary of the door, and were met to a large circular room, with a few small groupings of stalactites made of once molten metal hanging from the ceiling in the middle the ground dipped down, and in the middle laid a small pile of bones with a broken off with sword blade sticking out of it, the blade seemed like it was made to look coiled up in a spinning curve all the way around it from tip to bottom, and the top half of the blade laying useless on the ground.

The teens got the scare of their lives when what they had thought was a large rock on the other side of the bonfire started to move, they froze, unable to move as the figure lifted what was likely it's head up to stare at them, and it started to stand up, albeit at an incredibly slow pace, taking almost a whole minute for it to rise, armor clicking together as it did, and when it stood at it's full height of around seven feet tall, able to tower over the girls.  
they had only just started to relax, then they saw the weapon it clutched in it's right hand, a straight sword of remarkable design, it's blade still gleaming after millennia of lying in ash beside it's owner, the team stood ready, not drawing their weapons, but ready to jump into action if they had to.

Along with it's straight sword was it's armor, which was not as lucky as it's sword, it seemed melted, warped in strange ways, but still able to function properly, he took a few shaky steps before stopping and looking down, the girls followed his gaze to a large spear on the ground, unlucky like the sword, it's blade was still shining bright but it's handle and shaft looked like it had once been gold, but had been charred off, the figure bent over to pick up the weapon but fell forward, hardly able to keep himself from falling face first in the ash covered ground, they saw him grip the spear and try to stand, he got halfway back up before falling to his knees, head hanging in shame, for he could not even raise himself off the ground.

Ruby along with the rest of the team felt a deep sadness in their chests, this was the ancient hero that saved the world, made their lives possible, and here he lays, hardly able to move after many, many years of being trapped in this ruin, here sat the champion of the very world battered and broken, Ruby started walking towards the old hero, with an alarmed Yang quickly moving up behind her  
"What are you doing Ruby?" The eldest asked, not wanting her little sis to get close to the potentially dangerous figure.  
"I'm going to help him Yang, look at him, he can't even stand, He's not going to hurt us I know it." She marched towards the ashamed knight, who took the time to raise his head, then let his gaze drift down as if accepting a cruel fate.

They could hear a audible grunt of surprise from the armored man as Ruby attempted to haul him to his feet, the small child only barely managing to bring his knees off the ground, but Yang walked over and added her strength, and together with some help from the great knight himself, they were able to get him off the ground.  
And there he stood over the two, and they could see his eyes, _silver_ eyes which conveyed more emotion that one could understand, he shifted his gaze from Yang to Ruby, and as his eyes met hers he froze, his own widening from seeing a similar silver hue, he reached out and grabbed Ruby's shoulder and started to walk away from the others, the WBY of RWBY started to walk towards them, but an unnaturally stern look from Ruby made them stay, but they were ready for anything.

The others watched, astonished looks on their faces, as the knight _spoke_ to Ruby, but to them it looked like he was doing so at great difficulty, Ruby had started to looked panicked by what he was saying to her, furiously shaking her head no at him, but after a few minutes she walked back looking defeated.

"What did he say to your Ruby?" Blake calmly asked, hiding from the others the fact that the large figure was gripping both weapons firmly, and looked ready to fight.  
"He wants us to fight him." Her words were quiet, almost a whisper, with sadness laced deep in the words.  
"What?" Weiss questioned. "Why does he want us to fight him?"  
Ruby hung her head. "He doesn't want us to just fight him." She looked up with tears brimming in her eyes, she looked so confused. "He wants us to _kill_ _him_." The other members of the team almost fell over, the ancient hero that sacrificed himself to save everything, wants to die after all he has accomplished?  
"W-why?" Was all Yang could formulate into words, and Ruby looked up at her sister before replying.  
"I-I don't know, all he said was something about ending him and his age so a new one could begin."  
"Well don't we have a say in this?" Weiss asked, still shell-shocked by what Ruby had said.

A grunt interrupted them, they looked up to see him standing not even three feet away from them.  
"I believe i need to explain where Lady Rose has failed, I don't wish to fight you, truly I don't, but I don't belong in this world anymore." His voice was hoarse from going so long without being used.  
"But that doesn't mean we have to kill you, we can just show you what this world has to offer, everyone needs protecting more than ever." Ruby tried to persuade the man into reconsidering what he had proposed.

"I am afraid it is not that simple." he pointed to the doorway into the shrine, which was now blocked by a thick fog.  
"You can't leave until that fog is gone, and it will only dissapear after I have passed on."

"How can you be so sure?" Blake questioned.  
"You saw the skeleton of that large man outside correct?"  
"Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything." Yang looked up at the tall knight.  
"I had to fight that great man before I could even have the option to leave this place, now you all must defeat me before you can, and it will also give me a chance to die with honor instead of withering away in this kiln."  
"So what say all of you, give this old hero one last battle?"

The girls walked away from him to go discuss their options in the corner, and the only options they had were to, A: Die in this room trapped forever. Or B: Give the greatest hero in all of Remnant one final fight, and leave with their heads held high.

The knight patiently waited for them, and as they walked over he waited for them to speak their choice, if they denied him his last battle, he would have to end himself to let them free, I wouldn't be the first time he had sacrificed himself so why would this be any different?

"Fine, we will fight you." was all Ruby said, her head hung as the rest looked downcast.  
"Children." The knight trailed off getting the young girls attention.  
"I know it may not be something easy to cope with, but when I look at each of you, you're fates are laid out before me."  
He points at Blake. "You will saves hundreds by hunting the corrupt wherever you find them."  
Then to Weiss. "You will change the attitude of the entire world and help bring peace in the wake of the destruction others will bring."  
Then Yang. "It may not seem like much, but you will become one of the greatest fighters in the world, but think child, for that is what I started as."  
And finally Ruby. "And you..." He trails off, as if unsure if he should speak. "You are two things lady Rose, A savior to the world, you will stop the darkness with the help of your friends." He gestures to the others. "But without you, the world will never know peace Miss Rose, but there's something else I have noticed, Lady Rose, you and I are _kin_."

"What are you saying?" Yang asked, all of them trying to process what they had just been told.

"That Lady Rose and I are directly related through blood." He replied as if it was as simple an answer as yes or no.

The resulting silence was deafening, The young team leader of RWBY was related to the savior of humankind, and now he was asking his own family to fight and kill him.

"Young ones, I know this is much to process, and I know what you are thinking, that if you end my life, you are cruel heartless monsters, and you will never be able to live with yourselves, but trust me when this is all over, you will smile, for I have enlightened you."  
He turned to Ruby. "And Ruby, when I lay on the ground after this fight, I will ask you a favor, but _only then_ , do you understand?"  
She nodded her head numbly at his words.  
"Then we are all in agreement children?"  
The girls all looked to each other, grudgingly steeling themselves for the fight to come, they looked at the greatest man to ever live, and they nodded to him, formally accepting the challenge he proposed.

"Very well, I am glad to see you all agree, now go stand by the fog door, I will start the fight." he turned around and marched toward the other end of the kiln, while they went to the fog door, they paused to feel the fog, both solid and not at the same time.  
When they turned, they saw him patiently waiting, and with a nod, he dashed towards the four girls with a newfound speed, fueled by the promise of a last fight.

He begun by stabbing out with the spear Ruby barely able to dodge the thrust, and let it carry him, now he was behind them and followed up with a wide spinning sweep catching all four of the girls and sending them flying across the kiln.  
They didn't know how strong he had been up to this point, turns out he almost makes Yang look _weak,_ but he didn't stop he charged across to Weiss and swung sword and spear in beautiful arcs hitting her, she blocked on the right, the spear came from the left stabbing her side, she blocked left she got a sword hilt to the face, his weapons moved as if controlled by two separate minds, two entities that functioned as one.  
Yang charged from the right while Blake came in from the left, and Ruby came from behind, he pushed Weiss backward, tripping her with the spear, then quickly moving his sword hand struck-out first, hitting Yang in the stomach with the cross guard, stopping her dead, he kicked backwards catching Ruby in the chest, then held out the spear with his left hand to block Blake, shoving his spear upward knocking her weapons out of her hands as he slams the side of the spear onto her sternum, but he keeps the movement, adding Ruby and Yang on the spear's side, as he uses the speed he built to lift the spear, picking them fully up off the ground and slamming them back down into the ash.

But Weiss did not waste this chance, she brought up multiple glyphs, launching ice projectiles out of them hitting the nimble knight square in the back, the ice shards shattering when they hit his aura, which glowed a bright golden hue.  
He staggered and turned sharply while the others were still on the ground he launched himself at the Heiress, who preemptively struck out, not wanting it to play out the same way it did last time when he charged her, but it was in vain, he had far more combat experience than her as well as strength, he parried her strike with his sword, knocking her rapier Myrternaster, out of her hands before it landed several feet away, he slashed her across her chest multiple times, before sticking the spear tip in the ground, grabbing her by the throat and threw her to the other side of the arena, as far away from her weapon as possible, and making her smack hard against the wall of the kiln.

The girls got up, and looked to him, patiently waiting for their move, he tilted his head when they pulled out small clear glass objects.  
It did not look good for team RWBY, despite the few hits that were landed on them, they were in bad shape, Ruby had dropped down to 65%, Yang was on 72%, Blake had 53%, but Weiss was in the worst condition, she had taken the brunt of the beating she looked and felt weak, her aura dropped down to 22%, and she was disarmed, they thought they would have to distract him so Weiss could get to her weapon, but all stood surprised, when Myrternaster landed right in front of Weiss, they all looked up to see the knight nod his head towards Weiss after kindly giving the disarmed girl her weapon back, he then taking a defensive stance, as the team charged him.

The first to land a hit this time was Ruby, she had shot him with the sniper part of her scythe, catching him off guard, as he had never faced such fast moving projectiles.  
Yang took the chance to land a devastating explosive punch right in his face, Blake following up with a few shots from her pistol and a few slashes from the blade attached to it, Weiss fired off more glyphs, but he slashed each one of the ice progectiles out of the air, but he was not expecting Ruby to come flying in from his side at an alarming speed, she fired a shot out of the scythe to get a little more force out of her slash, catching him in the shoulder with enough force to spin the unprepared hero around, allowing Yang to put explosive round into his back, followed by a punch that sent him flying across the arena.

He got up and turned towards them, nodding his head acknowledging their skill, before he did a large stomp on the ground, making ash fly around the arena, and when the dust settled, the four saw him standing with fire coming off him, embers flying off his armor, and his weapons had changed as well, his spear was wreathed in lightning, and his sword had some kind of blue glow around the blade, perhaps some kind of ancient magic?

They had no time to react as a bolt of lightning came flying off the spear and struck Yang in the chest almost knocking her off her feet dropping her aura down to 60%.  
He gave them no time to react as he jumped across the entire arena, the spear and sword being thrust into the ground creating a magic and lightning explosion, after recovering, it appeared as Weiss had protected herself with a glyph, as she was still standing, the others were not so lucky, Ruby, Yang, and Blake had all been sent flying across the arena, Yang's aura dropped to 30% as she took the brunt of it, Blake was at 39%, and Ruby was down to 42%, and they looked to the knight when he started to laugh merrily, speaking the first words since the fight had begun.

"Ah, yes children, this really is a magnificent fight, a wonderful and beautiful final battle for an old man." He took up a stance waiting for the girls to make a move.  
Weiss launched more ice shards with her glyphs, which he shattered with his spear, Blake opened fire, he was faster, he blocked her bullets with his sword, Yang fired her explosive rounds, he jumped to the left, avoiding them, but Ruby caught him in the chest with a few rounds, which stunned him, Blake sent out a group of her shadow clones, surrounding him, he swept his spear, hitting them all, but Blake had jumped above him, and when he felt her presence, he had enough time to look up just to get her high heels to his face, and a few slashes across his chest as she jumped off him, along with a few pistol shots spread out as she retreated, Yang ran up and sucker punched his chest a few times before he managed to smack her away, he seemed like he was actually starting to take some damage, they heard coughing, and somewhat labored breathing, and when Weiss launched across the kiln to stab him, her rapier punctured his armor and sunk into the flesh of his stomach.

Weiss let go of her rapier as she stepped back, her whole body started to shake, and she was only able to take a few more steps back, before her legs gave out as blood started to come out of the wound she had made.  
The rest stood silent, staring at the blade embedded in his stomach, and they watched as he reached down, and grasped the hilt of the rapier and pulled it out of his stomach and threw it towards Weiss, his speech slightly raspy with pain.

"The fight...is not yet over child." He sounded like it was causing him great pain to speak. "I'm not done yet, it's just been a while since i've felt pain."

He planted his spear's end in the ground, and created a small flame in his hand, before slamming it in his chest, covering his whole body in a reddish mist, charging towards the girls and attacking with a new kind of strength, his spear's slash was blocked by Yang but it electrocuted her and sent her flying into the far wall of the kiln, where she started to spasm on the ground thanks to the lightning, Blake was next, he swung his glowing sword, she blocked it but whatever was wreathing the sword burned her like fire but much deeper, as if it burned her very soul and she fell to the ground in immense pain but otherwise fine, he turned towards Weiss, but she was just sitting on the ground staring at the blood stained sword, so he turned towards Ruby, and they charged each other, one matching the other attack for block, Ruby had flown into some sort of rage because of what he did to her friends, he wasn't trying to kill them, she knew that, but she would not let him hurt them anymore!

He saw the blade come from the side and knew he would be to late to block it, he hated to make his kin so angry, and to give her a task that was difficult to complete for a number of reasons, but if he was to be set free, it would have to be that way.  
He felt the sharp sting in the side of his body, and as he looked down he saw that the scythe had cut deep into his side, hitting around the heart, probably severing multiple arteries in doing so, he saw his Ruby's terrified face as she dropped her scythe after it was freed from his body when he fell backwards next to the bonfire, now here he lay on the ground with his blood pooling around him, Ruby rushed to his side and falling to her knees in his blood, her face was already a tear covered mess, he could hear her sorrowful and panicked voice, shouting as she failed to control her volume. "I'M SO SORRY, I'M SO SO SORRY!" She buried her face into his chest as he lay on the ground, crying into the armor as her apologies turned into incoherent words jumbled together.  
She only sat up after she felt him move, he reached up and removed his helmet and Ruby's eyes fell upon a battle scared face, but his features were gentle, as he reached up and tousled her hair and spoke in a soft tone, trying to calm her. "Hush little Rose, it is alright-" She cut him off by screaming that it wasn't alright, that she hurt him, that he was going to die, and that she would never forgive herself as she broke into another fit of pitiful sobs.  
He waited for her crying to subside. and spoke again. "Ruby, remember when I said i needed to talk to you when this fight was over?" She nodded her head in response.  
"I need you to put the two pieces of the sword back together quickly, I have an idea." Ruby nodded and picked up the broken off hilt and placed it onto the blade that was still stuck in the bonfire, he held his hand out, holding the two broken halves together as the fire in his hand burned brightly and melted the two pieces back into one, and the fire that once burned relighted, though very weak, not like the flame he once laid his eyes on, but similar to a normal bonfire's comforting flame.

"Aaah it has worked child, I implore you and your friends to stay for a short while after my passing, you will not be disappointed I assure you." His eyes were clam and peaceful, the others had recovered and had walked over after the conversation between the two had ended, he turned his head towards them.  
"Thank you all for what you have done, You will be rewarded I promise you, it will only take a moment, I feel the calming dark pulling me in." He smiled at the four, a encouraging and mirthful grin that, despite the situation, made them feel better somehow, he looked to the four, from Yang, to Blake, then Weiss, and finally his gaze settled on Ruby, his kin, and he smiled, one last smile as he closed his eyes, and not one second later, they saw him leave the world, his breathing had stopped, eyes closed and a smile gracing his battle scarred face, the look of true peace.

And once again the girls went bug eyed as his body slowly dissolved into the ground, not in a disgusting decomposing way, he just slowly faded into the ground, and when his body was gone, one thing remained a large and bright golden glowing soul, it lingered at the spot he had died, before it split into five pieces, four smaller ones and one larger yet still small soul, and the team speechlessly stared as each and all of the smaller pieces flowed into each of their chests, and were absorbed by their souls, any fatigue they had felt, melted away as a small golden sheen was seen around each of them before vanishing.

Then the largest piece flowed over to the bonfire, and faded into it, the girls had stood and sat in silence for a few moments, honoring the fallen hero, and as they had turned and started to walk out, they heard a strange noise, they turned around to see a man crawling out of the ash next to the bonfire, he held a bright golden spear, and a elegant sword, with armor that was a silvery color but he had no helmet, he had his back to them, but when they turned around they saw the face of the man who had just died staring at them, except he looked much younger with a large jovial smile on his now scar free face, he walked up to the dumbfounded teens.

"I told your there would be a surprise children, was I wrong." The look of smug unending plastered on his face.  
Ruby's brain had started to shut down. "I, but, how, why, I-I, I-." He grabbed her and hugged her tight.  
"I knew you could do what had to be done, look, all of you, I am sorry for tricking you into fighting me, but it was the only way for the fog blocking the door to clear, look for yourselves."  
All four turned around to see the fog gone, the entrance visible, to them from here.  
"I'm afraid I forgot to tell you my name, it is Armos, Roth, and I believe in your language Roth means Rose, if your were curious."  
" But what say you all, shall we go, I wish to see what this new era has to offer, and I know I will have to face your wrath at some point for what I did, but for now, you all look like you need a break, and I need some fresh air so, shall we?" he gestured to the now open kiln door as well as the great stone one, letting the tired ladies go first, he may have to face the music once they had had their rest, but for now, he was giddy, happy to see colors besides black and ash grey, and as they left the kiln behind he only had one amusing thought come to mind.

'Just like the mighty phoenix I rise from ash to burn brightly once again.'

 **DEAR LORD HATH MERCY THIS TOOK SO LONG TO MAKE!**

 **I really am proud of myself with this one, hope you all are proud of me as well.**

 **So tell me what did all of you think about this, and would you like to see it turned into it's own story?**

 **Till next time fellow Wraiths.**


	2. The turmoil of memories

**Here is chapter two guys, not much to talk about so let's get into reviews.**

 **Speaking of reviews, holy shit nuggets guys i'm on the edge of tears at this amount of revs, and so many follows and faves, from ONE CHAPTER. LEGIT HAPPY!**

 **wraith guest: Indeed.**

 **ultima-owner: Thank you, I was hoping they would.**

 **OneTiredSloth: Yes, yes cliche thing I know i'm sorru, but it's nice to get criticism from an experienced writer. Thanks dude!**

 **Touhou is Life: Yus.**

 **AInterestedReedr: Glad to have impressed you, sorry the pace of the fight was a bit fast, i just kind of wanted to portray that even in such a decrepit state that he is still the great hero he once was, at least slightly.**

 **doopaloop: Grammar..? REEEEEEEE! Also I AM CONTINUIIIINGUUUUHSDUSHD!**

 **Gargoyle Enthusiast: Holy crap spelt your name right first try...but ye, glad ya like it.**

 **themaskedswordsman: *Extremely happy noises***

 **DICK'S PIZZA: FITE ME BOI!**

 **Beowulf: IT IS ONE NOW U SKRUBLARD!**

 **Thimble of glass: I read your review midway typing this, lucky break eh?**

 **Now that all that is out the way I shall now typu.**

They had made their way out the doorway of the kiln, stopping while Armos payed respects to the massive skeletal man, taking the sword that had been placed on the corpse with a respectful nod as he placed it on his back and he looked towards the stone doors, the great gates that protected the kiln for millions of years, spread open, and leading to a cave, at least as far as he could tell. Walking quietly towards it, as if not to disturb the blackened knights that littered the ash covered floor.

When they had made it to the door, the girls had looked over to him, he was almost bouncing on his feet with excitement. He looked over to the four, stopping abruptly as he scratched the back of his head out of embarrassment. "U-uh, shall we go?" He looked unamused when his grandchildren started to laugh at him, and yes, he considered Yang his own in a way, she was Ruby's sister after all.

After he looked to the other two, what where there names? Blake and...Weiss, the girl who had a mini freak out when she stabbed him, he had assured he he was fine now so she was in a much calmer state, and much to his relief, she smacked the two on the back of their heads, Yang turning to yell at the heiress, Ruby rubbing the back of her head with tears in the corner of her eyes. Both Blake and Armos rolled their eyes at the display of childishness, both deciding to just walk through the cave, not waiting for the others as they walked through the darkness in blissful silence.

* * *

They waited at the entrance to the cave, he sat beside Blake breathing in the cool, fresh air with a smile on his face as Blake, seemingly uncaring, was leaning on him as she was nose deep in some book. They were at peace for a few minuets, then the peace was disrupted by Yang, who spoke in a type of tone he hadn't heard in a very long time, the dreaded teasing tone.

"I know he's hot and all Blake, but I thought it would take you longer to make a move~" The brawler snickered, leaning against the mouth of the cave, Armos decided he would not get onto her case for calling him "hot".

He looked to his right as Blake jumped away from him at comedic speeds, stuttering and stammering. "Y-yang! I don't think he's h-hot, I mean, i'm not trying t-to insult him but, I-I..." She stopped speaking as Armos slowly stood, facing Yang.

"Do not tease her Yang, I've got this" Blake looked up at him questioningly, while Yang was struggling to breathe as she saw Ruby being dragged by the ear out of the mouth of the cave by the heiress, Armos grabbed Blake's arm and drug her away from the rest, standing by a tree as he looked down at her with a mirthful look in his eyes.  
"So... _are_ you attracted to me Miss Belladonna?" He chuckled as he watched her face turn bright red at the forwardness of the question as she started to stutter again. He patted heron the head, just narrowly missing her bow, which he noticed made her tense up but chose to ignore it as he spoke in a calm voice.

"If you ever have feelings you need to talk about Blake, you can always come to me." He thought for a moment as she nodded, glad there may be a person to confide in yet, but she got a look of horror on her face as he slowly got the same teasing look Yang had. "Oh, and Blake. If ever you do have feelings for me, or already do and are keeping quiet, do feel free to share, after all, I know i'm irresistible~" He almost bust out laughing as he watched her face turn scarlet as she hid her face behind her book, not saying anything, which he, of course, didn't see any meaning in. As he walked back to the mouth of the cave, Ruby waving to him as she said something about a "bulls head" coming to get them. Which made him raise his brow while Yang had pulled Blake to her.

And...tried to pull her shit. "So Blake, tell me, he try to kiss you~?" She was immediately slapped across the face by Blake, who turned on her heel and started to follow the others, leaving Yang to guess what she had said that deserved that.

* * *

They walked into a clearing, hearing the close thundering sound of rotors as the bullhead, sitting right above them, began to land. They had to calm down Armos, who had dropped into a battle stance upon seeing the aircraft.

"Whoa, grandpa, it's okay." Ruby tugged on the cape of his armor, being an adorable child while Yang and Blake rested their hands on his forearms. He slowly lowered his weapons, taking a neutral stance as the doors opened, tensing up as they started to drag him towards the aircraft.

"Don't worry, it's a perfectly safe method of transportation." The ever present heiress assured the knight, who grudgingly took a step into the vehicle, grumbling all the way. He never liked heights, whether he was on top of Lothric's Castle, looking down to the streets below the wall, or at the top of the archer giants tower, and especially in the hands...claws...whatevers, of those damned bat-demons.

* * *

The ride wasn't that bad in retrospect, it was calm, not very turbulent, the only things of note were one: The amazing view. and two: The fact Miss Belladonna was sitting awfully close to him, putting a slight knot of dread in his stomach. She couldn't really have any feelings towards him, could she? Sure The Lady Darkling and Young Lady Rhea had had some feelings for him, Lady Darkling having kissed him when he left for the Dukes Archives, and when he came back, and before he left for the shrine she _had_ asked him if he would stay with her. He was only slightly unwilling in said endavour. And Lady Rhea, she was constantly swooning over him after he had saved her in the Dukes Archives massive jail, she was near hollowing and without hope as she had been tortured by the six-eyed Channelers. She may have also taken him to a small, quiet place in the shrine only she knew about, and she may or may not have tried to do 'things' to him as repayment for rescuing her, things he never thought one so young, let alone a pure hearted cleric would have done. It still boggled his mind.

He shook these thoughts as he saw a massive tower like structure stand tall above what appeared to be a small castle like structure. Honestly I would rival the main cathedral of Anorlondo. Infact thinking about Anorlondo made him remember one of the most fun and difficult fights he ever had, a glorious battle against the honorable Dragon Slayer Ornstein and the brutal Executioner Smough. He remembered his own shock when Ornstein absorbed Smough's power and heal all his wounds, and grew to giant size!. He had almost shit himself, but after hours of grueling combat he was finally able to fell the might Dragon Slayer and out of the utmost respect he had used his remarkable spear for the rest of his journey, yes it and his Astora Straight sword had went through plenty of tough times, but they always came out on top, whether it be god or demon, man or hollow, his weapons and armor always saw him through the strongest winds and toughest tides the world could throw at him, and for that he was eternally thankful.

But, in the time of all his musing they had arrived at the castle like structure, he stepped off the "Bull Head" as fast as he could, not trusting of such a thing, he wasn't close minded by any means, but he did prefer Miracles, Pyromancy, and Magic over everything else. He was finally able to get a good look at the place, it was all easily the size of Anorlondo's main cathedral, and had a massive spire towering above it all, it was a beautiful sight indeed. He turned to the girls who were stretching and yawning from finally getting of the cramped and boring airship.

"Um, none of you told me what this place was called." His little sentence made Ruby poke her index fingers together with a sheepish look, Weiss look like she was going to face palm for forgetting, Blake just had a small, if not shy smile on her face, and Yang chuckled a little while rubbing the back of her head.

Before any of them could tell him, a voice spoke up from behind him, the color fading from the teen's faces "This is Beacon Academy, and you are trespassing." The voice was feminine and it was _stern._ This would not be fun, he turned to see a rather tall blonde woman with a riding crop staring him down, but he knew appearances could be very deceiving, this case was no different, he could feel a strong well of magical power deep within her, and he wasn't here to fight, so he decided to play it as respectfully as one could, he gave her a polite bow of his head while speaking in a respectful tone. "I'm terribly sorry Ma'am, I was unaware of where I was or that I was trespassing, I was only just brought here by these four...students of yours." She seemed to give him another once over, varying his politeness with her guess on how truthful he was as her gaze drifted to the four girls behind him, who paled even further when it turned back to a glare, though her voice was much more gentle. "Is that true, did you four bring him here?" The four completely balked and for the most part clammed up, surprisingly, Ruby was the one that stepped up beside Armos. "Yes we did, Miss Goodwitch, I proudly present Armos Roth, my uh...200th grandfather?" She said it as a question more than anything else, as much as he wanted to slap her on the back of the head for saying something so silly, Armos almost teared up at his kin standing beside him as he rubbed her head as he look to the other four which had taken place up beside him, nodding in confirmation of what she had said as Miss Goodwitch had the most baffled look upon her face.

"But...that's impossible Ruby, how...I don't..." She rubbed her temples, trying to wrap her head around what she had just heard, she would normally think Ruby was just being over dramatic, but her entire team had backed her up on it. "Either way, you are all going to the Headmaster's office." The four balked again, but Armos took a brave step forward and gestured for her to lead the way. "I would love to meet this 'Headmaster', shall we go?" Once again, she seemed a little off put by his humble tone and polite nature, no doubt used to dealing with rude and rowdy children. She turned and started walking, expecting them to follow, Armos's little bit of bravery inspired the children as they confidently walked beside him up until they got to the elevator, then they started to get nervous until Armos rested his hands on their shoulders, them giving him a nod as they followed Miss Goodwitch onto the elevator, this was one of the things he could actually appreciate, He had always liked any elevator he found, they would almost always be was of escape, or maybe a shortcut, or even an impromptu death pit to knock his enemies down if he was desperate.

They doors of the elevator (Which he had noticed was very advanced) opened, leading to a decently sized office, but he suddenly shivered, the man that sat at the desk in front of his was _powerful,_ something around his level of power if not equal to him, he looked rather dull in style, making himself appear much less imposing than he was, but he couldn't hide his power from a master of the soul arts, and he no doubt felt his power as well, as he seemed to tense up when his gaze fell on Armos, this didn't go unnoticed by Goodwitch, who immediately pulled out her riding crop, aiming it at Armos, alarming him as well as the girls, who jumped between him and Goodwitch, making her arm falter and the supposed Headmaster raise a brow in surprise at the action the girls had taken, he waved for Goodwitch to stand down as he addressed the elephant in the room.

"So, Miss Rose, who is your friend here?" Everyone had a slightly stupid look on their face as they turned to the Headmaster, recovering after a few seconds as Ruby took a step forward. "U-um, Armos, meet Headmaster Ozpin, Headmaster, i'd like you to meet Armos Roth, my really really old grandfather." Ozpin's brow shot up at an alarming speed, a very suprised look crossing his face before it was replaced by a calm and stoic expression as he cleared his throat.

"Miss Rose, would you care to explain what you mean?" Ruby looked like she was about to speak up before Armos strode up and took a small, cloth talisman out of a pocket on his armor, it had a strange, sun like symbol stitched onto it along with a few decorative feathers. He kneeled down as a strange golden energy flowed off of him, and before anyone could react, the glow had engulfed the entire room and they were all put in a trance like state as they saw multiple visions.

They saw a land destroyed by the process of time, a land of monstrous creatures and massive knights, and a lone man walking through the darkness, it was Armos, looking much younger, his armor much cleaner and not tarnished by the ash and flame of the kiln, in which this memory he had just entered, they saw him face the imposing black knights and terrifying heights of of the kiln slowly pushing his way to the center, they saw the great fog gate and watched Armos pass into the kiln gate and in front of him stood the man the skeleton that was outside the door belonged to, but he was horribly burnt and disfigured, his armor, hair, and blade somehow remaining mostly unscathed and before anyone, even the young Armos knew what was going on he was upon him, leaping through the air and swinging his massive flaming great sword in a motion that would end in an instant decapitation.

Luckily Armos was quick to react, he dodged under the swing, rolling away and summoning a lightning bolt into his hands, (to the shock of all those watching the memory of course) and throwing it into the chest of the man, the lightning dissipating almost harmlessly when it hit him, causing Armos to change to fire, which had a slightly better affect, making the man stagger slightly from the pain, allowing Armos to dash in and slash with his sword, cutting a deep gash into his stomach, the man's aura flaking off, but this made this shell of a man furious, using his size to grab Armos, he lifted him up before creating a massive explosion out from his hand, sending him across the room to smack against the wall of the kiln with a sickening crunch.

They were all silent inside the strange fog like circle that they saw this memory through, Armos just chuckled at their reactions, especially their eyes bulging out as he stood back up in the memory, taking out a small, golden glowing flask and taking a sip, his aura seemingly recharging, but the husk leaped at him, hitting him in the side with his sword and making him skid towards the center of the kiln with a grunt of pain, another leap, but it was blocked by his spear, another grab attempt, a stab through the hand with a sword.

It was a viscous flurry of blows shared between two great combatants, the fallen god and the rising hero battling inside a ash filled kiln where all life began to decide the fate of the world. The god taking a great multitude of strikes while slashing his massive sword at the hero who nimbly dodged them while delivering counter strikes, the fight seemingly lasted for hours and at the end they stood at opposite sides of the kiln, Armos's spear falling into the ash just where he had picked it up when team RWBY had found him, his swords' tip dragging along the ground, and the god? His sword was on the ground, held in a severed hand as he had fallen into the ground, a strangled screech emitting from his charred throat as Armos pierced his sword through his head.

Then...silence. A calm peace settling over the kiln, the spirits of the Black Knights finally able to rest, the world felt a change in to balance,, shifting from collapsing into the dark, to a more stable form of life.

Armos dragged the body out of the kiln, placing the great sword on it in a respectful fashion before walking back into the kiln, falling to the ash in front of the coiled sword, his body shutting down from the many wounds that engulfed him, he reached for the bonfire, only for his hand to catch flame, slowly traveling up his arm and coating his entire body, his wounds sealing under the flames power as he let himself crumple into the ash, then as they thought it was done, they saw time pass by at insane speeds, the ash rising as the flame started to dim until, finally, the sword broke, the hilt falling into the ash as the flame was snuffed completely, more time passing, ash rising higher until, there was noise, sounds of footsteps making him raise his head, looking up into the eyes of the four girls that gave him retribution.

Then it stopped, and they all found themselves in Ozpin's office, time having not passed at all as Armos stood while the girls had fallen over, Miss Goodwitch was leaning on a wall, and Ozpin's eyes bulging slightly as he stared off into nothing, silence reining until Armos spoke.

"There, now I suppose all of you truly understand what I am and part of what I have went through?" He god a few nods from the girls and Goodwitch, but Ozpin stared at him for a good minute, contemplating before he spoke with a small smile. "I would appreciate if you stayed at Beacon, Mr. Roth." Armos just chuckled as he heard the surprised cry from Goodwitch, and felt the four girls gather around him, questions almost visible inside their heads as they stared at him and then Ozpin, trying to understand what they just heard.

"Yes indeed Mr. Roth, someone with as much 'experience' as you would be fundamental to teaching my students, also having you around would keep you a secret, and that is what we need. So, what do you say Mr. Roth? Stay at my academy and learn about the new world as you teach my students the things you learned?" Goodwitch had just given up and sat down as the four girls had surrounded them, all of smiling, Ruby and Blake having sparkles in their eyes as they stared up at him.

He rubbed the heads of the two before looking to Ozpin. "I would love to Headmaster, to learn the inter workings of your world would make me very happy, and passing knowledge onto the young ones would bring me joy." Ozpin smiled as he turned to the girls. "Very well, Team RWBY, Mr. Roth will stay in your room until we have one for him, understood?" Ruby snapped a playful salute with a little "Yes sir!" making everyone (except Goodwitch and Weiss) give varying levels of a smile, Armos wrapping his arms around his new little family. "Shall we go?"

Ruby nodded her head furiously as she dragged him to the elevator, the other three following, and as the door closed, Armos could swear he heard Goodwitch yelling at Ozpin.

* * *

The excitement of the day had died down by the time they had got to the dorm, Ruby yawning cutely and jumping up to her bed and Yang throwing herself into hers, Weiss said goodnight to Armos before going to her own bed, and Blake, well even though she went to bed he could tell she was watching him, he acted like he was asleep and waited until he heard the other three snoring, then he snapped his head up just in time to see Blake stalking towards him. She froze on the spot, looking nervous as she got a small glare from Armos before he got a passive look on his face, leaning back and patting the ground beside him, she walked over quietly as sat beside him, whispering into his ear.

"Who was that man you fought in the dream?" He gave her an appraising look before he whispered back. "He was the god of sunlight child." He treated it so simple that it shocked Blake twice as much as she starred at him, bug eyed for a few good minutes before she shook herself out of the daze, looking much more tired, as if she had been using all of her brain power to "wake" herself back up as she closed her eyes, her head clunking against his armor as she basically passed out on his pauldron, snoring softly as Armos face palmed with his free hand before he let himself lie back and rest, actually being able to sleep, having the first peaceful rest for many, many long years.

'Poor girl, she acts like some kind of love-sick cat, but i'm far, far too old for her, she'll just have to accept that I will be like a kind of father. Nothing more, nothing less.'

 **Yeah, so here we are, the second chapter, I hope it's good enough to make the wait worthwhile, otherwise imma be sad.**

 **But ye, I though I did OK on this one, hope you all think the same.**

 **See you next time Wraiths.**


	3. A bit of a strange case

**So, i'm putting this out as a bit of an apology, it might be a short chapter, not sure, love your reviews but I responded to two of you privately but anyway...**

 **Guest: I actually left a sentence out at the end It's kinda a thing i'm gonna do every chapter like with the first, but don't worry friend no shippage.**

 **I don't have much to say except i'm changing a thing about him, he ain't going to be too OP and i'm changing some stuff involving aura, thank Touhou is Life for that, him and Hitler's Mustache are my two fav reviewers and I listen to them, not to say I don't listen to the rest of you.**

 **But i'ma start now.**

Armos woke in the door, actually feeling rested for once, and taking a quick look around he could see that Blake was reading a book on her bed, Yang was groggily waking up, and Ruby was prancing around like a dork, he smiled as he slowly stood, catching the attention of the three as he rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck, waving to them as he yawned. "Good morning you three, how are you all doing?" He was greeted with good mornings and replies of them doing fine as he swayed his head around, unable to find Weiss.

Yang noticed him looking around with slight worry and punched him playfully in the arm. "Don't worry gramps, Weiss is just in the bathroom, she'll be out soon." He just nodded his head, uncaring as to what a "Bathroom" was, sitting down and taking off pieces of armor and cleaning them, thankfully he had a only slightly tattered shirt and pants covering him, but in the middle of him cleaning his armor Ruby gave him a questioning look.

"Uh, Armos...where are your weapons?" The question caught Blake's and Yang's attention as they look at him with the same questioning looks. Armos just chuckled and patted a small box beside him, telling them nothing and only saying "You'll see later." getting a deadpan look from Blake, a pout from Ruby, and a slightly annoyed look from Yang.

Time passed as he methodically cleansed his armor, putting it back on after he was done. Apparently, while he was so enthralled with his purge of dirt and ash, Weiss had come out of the "Bathroom" and all of them were in some kind of uniform. They were about to walk out, infact Ruby noticed him last second and hollered to the other three, when they came over she talked to them quietly, he saw them all nod, though Weiss still looked annoyed about it.

Ruby turned to him and gestured for him to follow, he shrugged his shoulders and grabbed the small box, following behind them. "Where are we going?" Ruby turned to him with a happy look. "To someplace we think you'll love, combat class!" He immediately perked up, staring at her as a smile crossed his face. "Combat class? Sounds very enjoyable, by all means, lead the way." She smiled widely, skipping ahead of everyone as Armos just chuckled at his little family he's got.

They made it to combat class in almost record time for them, no one really doing anything as class was actually quite a ways away from starting, but everyone went silent at the sight of the armor clad man that stood behind the team, some getting a little twitchy at the sight of him, others trying to play it cool, Armos just ignored the stairs and stood by the door like a guard, leaning against the door frame, it was only a short amount of time before Ms. Goodwitch came through the door, making Armos let out a deep sigh, she turned to him with a _very_ annoyed look, she walked over to him, the both of them whispering for a bit before she looked satisfied and turned back, going to the little arena in the center addressing the students in the normal way she did before she said something that was abnormal, accounting to our dear armored friend.

"We have a guest in our class today, he is Mr. Armos Roth, and today he will spar with a few of you, this is as much of a warm up for him as it is what I assume will be a decently challenging fight for any of you, the first student of the day _will_ have Mr. Roth as their opponent." This surprised everyone in the room, including Armos, he hadn't expected her to take him seriously, but nonetheless he walked up into the arena and watched as Goodwitch his a button and the board above him animated itself, showing a blank for him with just his name as the other went through a list of the students, landing on a boy called Cardin Winchester that he saw in the stands, he had brown hair, he was barrel chested, and wore pieces of armor on some of the more vital parts of the body, but it was novice work, not covering part of his abdomen, he left his shoulders bare, and his groin was...kickable.

He had a cocky grin on his face as he walked down and out of the room, presumably to get his weapon, Armos just stood there, throwing his small wooden box around casually, but in a short few moments, Cardin came back with a massive mace with a red crystal in it's head, he walked up onto the platform, planting the head of his mace on the floor and leaning on it as Goodwitch gave Armos a questioning look. "Mr. Roth...where is your weapon?" Everyone in the room got slight chills as he got a mad grin across his face as he sat the small wooden box on the ground, everyone's jaws dropping as it grew into the size of a full blown treasure chest, and they watched in even more awe as he reached in and pulled out a sword that was bigger than the chest itself, team RWBY noticed it as the great sword of the skeleton they saw outside the entrance to the inner sanctum of the kiln, it was worn, and huge, easily bigger than Cardin's mace, and Armos held it like a child's toy, flourishing it in a impressive display of strength.

"How do you think gramps is gonna do Ruby?" Ruby turned her head to her sister, the most stalwart belief visible on her face. "Armos will win, without a doubt." Yang, Blake and Weiss shared a look before nodding, agreeing with the small leader.

Cardin looked intimidated, but he let his bravado take back over as he hefted his mace onto his shoulder as Goodwitch pressed a button which brought up the aura levels of the two of them Cardin's showing green and at tip top shape, but there wasn't one for Armos, no, there was a pure red, heavily segmented bar. No one was quiet sure what it meant, but nonetheless Goodwitch asked the two combatants to stand at the ready, Armos giving Cardin a bow of his head, Cardin, still being a dick did not regard the respectful gesture Before Goodwitch raised and subsequently chopped her hand down, signaling the fight to begin.

As soon as she had done this, Cardin had rushed at Armos, lifting his hammer high in the air while the latter just stood there with a deadpan look, and as Cardin swung the mace with a grin, thinking his opponent was brain dead, Armos sidestepped the strike, two handing his great sword as he pulled back and swung with all his might, hitting Cardin square in the chest and sending him sailing across the arena platform as his mace remained where it had hit the ground, Armos picking it up with one hand and looking at it's design curiously as he walked towards Cardin.

He saw the boy look up, waiting for Armos to mercilessly beat him, but everyone seemed a little surprised when Armos dropped Cardin's mace at his feet before he turned and walked back a decent amount of space before turning to face the now standing and armed Cardin holding his weapon at the ready as Armos nodded to him again, Cardin, actually being humble for once, nodded back as the gesture before he settled back into a stance as Armos did the same, slowly stalking towards the now wary Cardin with a slightly laid back stance, knowing his opponent was cautious and right were he wanted him, he was loosely gripping the sword with one hand while the other hung was reeling back, looking like he was rolling his wrist, but everyone who had seen the memory of his final battle all those years ago knew what was going to happen.

As soon as he got inside Cardin's reach and the boy decided to take a swing, he was struck in the chest with a lightning bolt before he was slugged in the jaw, staggering him back a few feet before he had to duck a swing from Armos's sword, taking the opportunity to strike back as he shunted Armos with the hilt of his mace before swinging it down, a surprised look crossing his face as Armos blocked his strike, pushing him back as he decided to voice some thoughts.

"You are too focused on raw strength, that will not get you very far boy." He struck out, nicking Cardin in the side before he took a big step forward and kicked him in the gut. "You are too arrogant, you think that you can persevere through anything" Another strike, this time blocked, and the kick dodged. "You learn, but not fast enough, but you retreat when you are out matched, so that is a plus." He locked his blade against Cardin's mace, the two having a power struggle before Armos grabbed him and pulled him in for a headbutt. "And you don't know your own limits." All of this (Assumed) mockery made Cardin growl like a dog, pushing Armos back and slamming his mace into his chest, a look of horror crossing his face when it was rewarded with a sickening crack, Armos's armor only slightly denting but the body underneath not so lucky, he laid still on the ground, causing a long moment of silence as Cardin looked like he was about to cry after a while, thinking he had killed someone before everyone stopped as they heard a broad laugh as Armos slowly stood up, a massive smile in my face as he twirled the great sword. "Heheh, you really do hit like a truck, this is going to be fun." No one said anything, the only ones not being too surprised about him getting up being Ms. Goodwitch and team RWBY even though they were still worried about the cracking sound, as for the others in the room, they were basically shitting themselves.

"What..? You all act like you've never seen a man take a hit before, what's with all the shocked faces?" Cardin was the one to speak up, having wiped the tears away to try and preserve his macho-manly-man-bullshit, even though his voice was a little shaky. "H-...how are you still standing?" Armos gave him a extremely joyful look before walking over and patting his shoulder. "Trust me boy, I've been hit by far stronger things with much bigger weapons and survive." He let his eyes travel back up to the board that displayed Cardin's arua and Armos's red bar, the red bar downed by about a 1/10th of the entire thing while Cardin's aura was around 60% and to the shock of everyone, was degrading at a steady pace as Armos's bar filled up at the same speed, they could all do nothing but watch in awe and confusion until Cardin had dropped down to 50% while Armos was back at full, even Armos had no idea what was happening, but after a few more moments of silence, Glynda had called off the match, having Cardin, who looked a little drained, go sit down while Armos decided to go sit by his really grand-granddaughter getting a combination of looks from the students, from weary looks from the more cautious or old ones, to almost childlike glee from the younger ones.

As he sat down by Ruby, Yang moved and sat on his right, Blake sitting beside her as Ruby and Weiss stayed on his left, while the group of four to the left of them, presumably another team, scooted over, all eight of them looking like they were armed to the teeth with questions. But Armos held his hand up, stopping them in their tracks, as he pointed to the arena, making it prominent that he wanted to watch the fights and not be bothered, the grudgingly complied, though he did hear the four to the left bombarding Ruby with questions, so many she couldn't keep up with them, causing Weiss and Armos to snap at the loud children, normally they wouldn't be bothered by Weiss's attitude, but this man kind of scared them, so they promptly shut up and let it be as Armos let his gaze drift back to the arena, enjoying watching the young bloods fight.

* * *

It was a good few decent fights, good, skill yes, they fought well, but none of the strikes they went for were lethal, had they been in a real fight they would be taken down and killed mercilessly with cruel laughter of vile creatures and men and the hungry mouths of demons.

He had gotten up and stretched, walking down and putting his sword back in the box, but before he could walk out Goodwitch stopped him, having a genuinely worried look on her face. "Mr. Roth, I really think you should get to the nurses office, it was only out of respect I let you stay in my class so long, you could be very seriously hurt." Armos just waved it off. "Trust me Ms. Goodwitch I've survived a lot more than you would expect or ever encounter, besides I feel fine, all my bones are in place, and I know enough about internal bleeding to tell if I had it, and I don't I will be fine." She huffed and went back to her desk, not wanting to argue with him.

As soon as he walked out he was surrounded by the eight, and knowing he couldn't squirm his way out of this one he just laid back and closed his eyes, awaiting the plethora of questions.

"How did you not act hurt after that hit"? Ruby asked him as she as practically smothering herself by shoving her face in his chest. He patted her head with a small smile. "Because it didn't hurt me Ruby." She, as well as the other seven's eyes bulged out of their skulls, Ruby was just lost for words as one of the four he didn't know stepped up, she had red hair and emerald eyes, along with a very gladiator esque armor and weapon, she would have been quite the catch back in Lordran.

"Uh, hello, I have a bit of a question." Armos nodded, realizing her slight awkwardness as he waited. "How does it not hurt? You were hit by a very large weapon swung by a fairly strong student" She hated giving Cardin the slightest compliment, but she was curious.

He looked down at all of them, a serious look crossing his face. "Children. Do not worry about me, I've fought gods and demons and come out on top. A boy with a great hammer will not kill me in one hit." They all seemed a bit spooked by his sudden change in personality, but they relaxed as he went back to his undeniably chill look. "Now, who are your four?" He watched as the teens stepped up the redhead introducing them, starting with herself. "I'm Pryyha Nikos." She pointed to a skinny blond boy on her left. "This is Jaune Arc." Jaune gave a sheepish smile and a wave as Pryyha turned to her right, pointing to the black haired boy to her right, who reminded him of Shiva of the East for some reason. "This is Lie Ren." Ren gave a small nod which Armos returned. Then Pryyha turned to the very excited looking orange haired girl beside Ren "And that is Nora Valkyrie." Nora jumped up to him happily, instantly getting grabbed by Ren and pulled back before she could antagonize Armos, he nodded by the boy again before addressing the four "I am Armos Roth, all I will tell you is that I am related to Ruby, if you four wish for details, speak to them and i'm sure they will tell you if they see fit...but for now, I feel like Ozpin wants to talk to me." He walked down the hall, heading toward the elevator to his office as the two teams faced each other.

Ruby poked he index fingers together. "Soooo...what do you guys want to know?" Armos could hear the whole of team RWBY get bombarded by questions as he walked away, rolling his eyes. "Curious children can be the worst sometimes."

* * *

Armos had figured out how the elevator was operated after a while, rather simplistic but he still had no idea how it actually worked, he took wide steps into Ozpin's office, surprising the Headmaster when he sat down in front of him. "Can I help you Mr. Roth?" Armos leaned forward with a unamused look. "Ozpin, I know you were watching me fight, through some crazy technology or not I could feel your gaze." Ozpin sighed as he leaned back in his chair. "Very well Mr. Roth, in the case that you know, I have questions for you, can you answer them?" Armos pondered for a moment before he nodded his head before leaning back in his chair.

"Very well. Firstly, what was that expanding box you pulled your weapon out of?" Armos looked a little happy as he pulled out the box and sat it on Ozpins desk and opened it, reaching in and pulling a long sword out longways before sliding it back in. "This is the Bottemless Box, it can hold anything that you can put in it, and as long as you remember what it is you can get it." He reached in, the box expanding as he pulled out a massive scythe, rubbing it's blade fondly before putting it back in and putting the box away. "Anymore questions?"

Ozpin nodded his head. "Why...do you not have an aura Mr. Roth?" Armos rolled his eyes. "Firstly, you can just call me Armos instead of _Mr. Roth_ it's quite annoying. And to answer your question: I don't even know what an aura is, if you are talking about the strange force that was protecting that Cardin boy, the closest thing I could compare it to would be a miracle called Great Magic Barrier, but it is not on the same level."

Ozpin raised his brow in surprise before he settled himself. "To make it simple; aura is the culmination of the soul, forming a defensive field around it's wielder, as well as being able to be used to enhance the power of ones strikes, or, if one can channel their soul well enough they can unlock their semblance, a special power that is relevant to their personalities." He stared down Armos. "Armos...even if you do not have an aura, it appears you have a type of semblance." Ozpin's tone became grave. "It appears that you _drain_ the aura of those around you to hear yourself, that is a very dangerous thing Armos."

Armos nodded his head. "I will do my best to keep it in check Headmaster, I cannot promise much else. Could I perhaps go back to the dorm?" Ozpin sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose before he looked back up with a smile. "I suppose you may go...oh and Armos, you can call me Ozpin instead of Headmaster." Armos smiled back as he got up and walked to the elevator, getting a cheeky grin. "Have a good day _Headmaster._ " He quickly pressed the button on the elevator, leaving Ozpin to shake his head. "He acts like a child seeing new toys."

* * *

By the time the girls had went through their day and got back to the dorm they had found Armos sleeping on all of their pillows and blankets on the floor, waking him up unceremoniously by ripping the blankets as pillows away, letting him thump on the floor. He woke up, rubbing the back of his head. "What was that for..?"

Yang hefted him up with some effort, slapping him on the back hard enough to hurt both of them. "Because we sleep on these things Armos, we need them, besides we brought you food." She smirked as he started to drool as he stopped the massive tray of food in Ruby's hands.

Before anyone could react he had leapt across the room and nabbed the tray, sitting in his little corner and vigorously eating, the girls looking a bit surprised at the speed at which he stuffed his face before they went into their routeans, by the times they were a quarter of the way done, Armos had finished his food with a huge grin, taking a blanket from Ruby's bed and curling up in his comfy corner, thinking about the events of today.

'I guess it's a good thing this old man has a little fight in him after all.'

 **WHOOOOO! MY FINGERS ARE BROKEN! THIS FUCKIN SUCKED!**

 **But in all seriousness, I really did enjoy typing this, but I've done it so much my fingers actually hurt right now, I hope you guys like this one, I think I was alright with the balances I made to him. As well as the change of aura.**

 **Have a good day guys, Darkwraith out.**


	4. Rememberance

**So, I'm sorry for my very long absence, i've been very busy with school these past months, and that takes priority guys, sorry.**

 **enuff chit-chat, review time.**

 **For the most part it's just a call for more, but i'll call the ones that said other than that.**

 **Toby860: Thanks friend.**

 **Dragongod Eclipsen: Thanks to you as well sir**

 **Ender Winters: Love ya too sis, now hush and read :3**

 **The next few chapters will probably be less story driven for the time being, so just bear with me, but that doesn't mean there won't be progression friends.**

 **Also it uh, might be a bit wall of text-y near the end.**

 **Let us begin.**

Armos had just awoken from his food coma from last night, getting up and stretching his limbs with a good deal of painful sounding but pleasant cracks, looking to the girls only to notice Blake was gone, so with nothing better to do he went out the door in search of her, patrolling the halls as he observed the architecture, it was rather beautiful, whoever had done this would have surely been payed very nicely for their services, this school was truly like a small Anor Londo. He almost stopped himself to admire it, but was curious as to what Blake would be doing at this hour, it was very early after all, the sun wasn't even above the horizon, why would that raven haired child be up at this hour.

After about thirty minutes of searching, he found her on the roof holding a cup of what he could assume was tea, atleast given the smell of it at this distance, he walked as quietly as a man in knights armor can, so Blake could obviously hear him and turned around. "Armos? you're up early, not get enough sleep?"

He shrugged as he walked up and leaned on a railing. "I had plenty enough sleep Blake, i'll be fine, trust me, a few hours is like heaven to me." She raised an eyebrow before shaking off her want of questions, not really wanting to have nightmares about whatever Armos dealt with on the daily as they both took in the view of the slowly rising sun.

"It's so nice. Calm. I never thought i'd see the day where I could relax, and it's all thanks to you girls." He stood on the tips of his toes and stretched his arms out diagonally in a strange gesture, making Blake raise a brow before it turned into a look of concern as she saw Armos's eyes dim slightly as he reached down and pulled out his "Talisman" that looked like a piece of cloth with a sun painted onto it with a few feathers handing off the bottom.

She heard him whisper, but it was so quiet that even with her extra pair of sensitive ears she thought she heard it wrong. "I told you I'd see it again Solaire." she saw him clench his fist around the Talisman before putting it away, rubbing his eyes a little as he turned to her.

"So, uh, should we go wake the others?" He saw the look on her face and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm fine dear, just remembering an old friend." He smiled a little as he turned back to his normal self. "Come on, lets go wake them, I want to pull Yang out of her bed and see if she explodes."

* * *

As they walked into the dorm room they saw that everyone was (surprisingly) slowly waking up, except for Ruby, she was already seemingly wide awake and in uniform as she was busy literally drooling on Armos's greatsword that he put on a weapons rack that was supposed to be out of everyone else's reach. The resulting bop on the forehead made her tumble like the smol girl she was, only to look up at the now triggered Armos who was polishing the blade furiously as a result of child drool.

After he was done, he reached out and poked his finger into the center of her forehead and kept it there, moving her head around a little as he spoke. "Ruby, I know how you love weapons, but I don't want you to touch any of mine without direct permission from me, you could seriously hurt yourself."

She sputtered a little in response to it as the three looked on with slight confusion. "B-but, i'm not a child! I can hold a sword if I want to!" She was so indignant that is was actually amusing to watch, but Armos held his ground, seemingly becoming enraged. "Oh really? What if this was an enchanted blade? What if it was fire and burned you, or used the power of a soul to hurt yours, or maybe you want to touch a corrupted blade that will kill you and then twist your body into some kind of amalgamation that would want nothing more than to kill everyone you ever loved!?" He quickly got up and walked out the room with all of his equipment before he said something worse.

The four weren't sure if they really believed that last one, but the couldn't help but feel like he was telling the truth, but for right now, they didn't know what to do. But Yang decided to voice her thoughts.

"That was...kinda terrifying for some reason." The wisecracking brawler had nothing witty to say about this, and the others nodded at her statement. Weiss was at a complete lack for words, she felt a little bristled, seeing Ruby get talked down to, but like Yang said, she was also slightly scared by Armos's reaction. Ruby was almost crying because the little girl has easy to hurt feelings and didn't really understand why Armos got so angry. Blake was less openly alarmed, but on the inside was a bit of a shitstorm, but for now she would withhold her judgement on the matter.

Ruby sniffled a little as she stared at where he and his stuff had been. "Why did he get so angry?" Yang stepped over to her and lifted her up, patting her back in a comforting way. "I dunno Rubes, how about we just wait for him to come back, i'm sure he'll be in a better mood and he can explain everything." Normally, Yang would be blistering with anger, but the thought of trying to get up in Armos's face was pretty damn intimidating to her, not to mention the fact he'd either end up whooping her ass or give her such a talking down it'd make her want to cry out of embarrassment and die at the same time, or maybe he'd do both...probably both.

* * *

 _In a unknown location somewhere in vale:_

A man with a white vest, red hair that was curled over one of his eyes, a sweet ass bowler hat, and a cane which shall be referred to as a pimp stick, walked up to the form of a woman in the shadows, he involuntarily shook from her presence as he decided to cut the chit-chat. "So. What is it, you dragged me from my little crime spree to talk about?" He immediately regretted his decision to speak in that manner as the woman's calm gaze turned into a burning glare.

"I need you to use anything at your disposal to find information about this man." she threw him a picture and offered him no explanation as she motioned for him to go about his business, making him huff as he turned and exited the room, staring at the picture as a very small girl and a few men and women with animal ears approaching him. He turned the picture, which was one of Armos in his full plate holding his sword and spear towards them as he growled out his command. "Find him, and figure out why Cinder wants him." The girl nodded and the others grumbled at the orders but obeyed as all of them went to scour details, whether it was from databases, or torn from the local populace, they would find out.

* * *

 _Back in Beacon:_

Armos was stomping through the halls as he spoke to himself quietly. "What was that girl thinking? She could seriously hurt herself like that...how did she even pick up that sword?" Ozpin came around the corner to see Armos. Seeing he had a strange look in his eyes as he started to ramble about things, some that made sense, and some that didn't as he went from speaking to himself, to talking like he was speaking to another man, muttering the name Solaire as he argued with the nonexistent man as if recalling an old conversation. "I don't care if you say she was just curious, she could kill herself that way, fighting all those things she...she may have been his servant, but that didn't mean she was invincible, Darkling can only do so much Solaire...No I do not think she'll be okay, not against those creatures." Ozpin coughed as Armos drew near, seemingly snapping out of his trance as he shook his head before looking up at Oz.

"Ozpin? What are you doing here...how did I get so deep into these halls? I had only just exited The room a minuet ago." Ozpin raised his brow. "You were wandering up the hallway and rambling to yourself." Armos seemed to go pale for a second. "O-oh? What was I talking about?" Ozpin would only raise his eyebrow to near impossible limits as he spoke. "You were talking about someone you called the "Darkling". And I heard you say the name Solaire, and act like you were talking to this man."

Armos stood there for a second before he legs gave out, barely catching himself by grabbing onto the wall, thankfully he put his stuff into the bottomless box or it would have gone everywhere. Ozpin moved quickly and helped Armos stand. Watching him visibly shake and gain a hoarse voice as he spoke. "T-that can't be true Ozpin, Solaire...Solaire's been gone for so long, so very long." Ozpin felt a large twinge in his heart after hearing the sorrow in his voice as he helped walk Armos to the schools infirmary, leaving the man there as he walked to team RWBY's dorm.

He entered the room, looking at the four who immediately jumped to attention before they felt a rock of dread fall into each of their stomachs at the worried look on the normally stoic headmaster's face, Ruby being the first one to ask the question. "What's wrong headmaster." A moment of silence as he looked to each of them. "It's Armos." Before he could even say more the four jumped up, Yang looking like she was ready to go hunting for him. "What'd he do now?" Ozpin held out his hands for them to stop before they could really start. "He didn't do anything wrong, but neither is he well off, I just had to help him to the infirmary and set him down after he had a well, I suppose you could call it a episode." he motioned for them to follow as he started walking towards the infirmary, the four basically becoming glued to him as they started to panic, Ruby almost shrieking. "What'd he do!?" Ozpin motioned for her to stop.

"I saw him walking down the hallway, he was talking to someone that wasn't there, and when I told him the name his legs gave out and he had to catch himself by grabbing the wall, and as I helped him to the infirmary he told me that the man who's name he said has been dead for a very long time." Blake gravitated forward and looked up at Ozpin worriedly. "What was the name."

He paused for a second before deciding it wan't important to withhold information. "The name of the man was apparently Solaire, if I remember." Blake's eyes widened as she almost stopped fully before she shook her head and kept going, making the other four look at her curiously. "Something you wish to share, Miss Belladonna?" She had really been hoping they somehow wouldn't have noticed her reaction.

"When I was on one of the balcony's on top of the school not too long ago, before everyone else was awake, enjoying the peace and quiet before Armos walked up. I saw him look at the sun and do some weird pose before he took out that little Talisman of his, and apparently whoever Solaire was, Armos promised him he'd see the sun again. He told me not to worry about it this kinda changes that." She shrugged, trying to play it off as any anger or suspicion the girls had felt towards Armos after his outburst and what Ozpin had said died. And they sped up their movements as Ruby started to rush to get to Armos as soon as possible, using all the speed she had in her to get to him.

* * *

Armos was stretching, having recovered from his slight breakdown and was walking towards the door of the infirmary, opening it only to get sent back about 5 feet when Ruby crashed into him faster than either of them could react, knocking him down and plastering her to his chest, making her world spin as she struggled to get off of him while they both groaned in pain. Ozpin, Blake, Yang, and Weiss appeared in the doorway, all except Ozpin looking a bit winded from chasing Ruby and going into full sprint when they heard the crash.

Yang walked over and grabbed Ruby and removed her from Armos's armor, the small girl getting a pouty face as she flailed her limbs and yelled for Yang to put her down as Armos picked himself up off the ground and going over and grabbing Ruby, Yang immediately let go as Armos hugged Ruby before setting her down and rustling her hair. "Ruby, i'm sorry for my outburst, can you forgive me dear?" She nodded vigorously as she hugged him back before she grabbed his arm and started to drag him back toward the dorm. The others having to follow the two as Ozpin just shook his head and walked back to his office.

Weiss stepped up beside Armos and tapped his shoulder to get his attention. "Uh, Yang, Blake and I were talking back there behind you two, and i'm sure Ruby would have agreed as well. But, you know you can talk to us about anything, right?" He nodded his head. "Well, were asking you to tell us about his "Solaire" you were mentioning." She saw him stiffen slightly before letting out a sigh.

"I suppose I could, it's been a long time since I got to tell some history of my life." Ruby's eyes lit up at the promise of story time as the others seemed a bit more wary but were otherwise fine with it as they walked their way back, getting ready for what ever kind of story Armos had for them.

* * *

Once they were back at there dorm and all situated and ready, Armos decided it was time. "So, where to begin, ah...I suppose I should start at the first time I met him. If I remember correctly, I found him after a rather invigorating fight with a giant bull creature with an axe like weapo-" "Like a Minotaur?" Weiss butted in, getting glares from everyone in the room, making her shut her face hole as Armos answered her question. "Yes, like a Minotaur. Now, where was I, oh yes. After slaying the creature -That's a story i'll share another time- I staggered down a flight of stairs, to my left were a large group of soldiers just waiting for a fight, and to my right was a serene sight. The suns rays shining down through the normally dreary dark clouds, so as you could probably guess I chose the much more relaxing path and headed down a flight of stairs, well, fell down them, and as I started to pick myself up off the ground I saw a man in full armor much alike, but at the same time different than my own, and he offered me his hand, I graciously accepted and he lifted me up with a rather impressive amount of strength and greeted my like I was a brother. That was the first time I met Solaire of Astora."

"He was a soft spoken man, open, caring, something that was rare in those days, most either pretended to be your friend, or were merchants and tried only to squeeze as many resources out of you they could by placing exorbitant prices on all goods they sold, or they had already given up hope and had either gone insane, or were in the process of doing so. To find someone like Solaire was a rare thing indeed, I really do believe he had a soul bright as the sun itself, he was great company, and he even joined me in many battle on my journey, he even saved my life in the one of the most difficult battle of my life. He was the truest friend I have ever known in my life, we found spots in the world never yet discovered, we traveled across continents, we thought we would save the world together..." He trailed off, his eyes darkening as the girls faces went from mixtures of interest and slight wonderment to dread.

"We were...in a place called Lost Izalith, the home of chaos itself, the birthplace of demonkind, I had found my him in a long forgotten corridor amongst bugs, one of which glowed like a small sun. All of Solaire's undeath had been a quest of searching for his own sun. Not in the way you think, he wanted to shine as bright and incandescently as the sun itself,so he could gather more fellow undead that had no purpose to join the Sunlight Covenant, a group of warriors dedicated to guide the weary and protect the weak. After he found the bug, he killed it and wore it on his head like a grotesque, glowing crown, and when undead either lose hope, or complete whatever journey they were on, they will lose their minds. Solaire was halfway through that process when I found him. I was clearing the other bugs through the path when I found him he lunged at me with his sword drawn, rambling on about how he had found his sun, that he _was_ the sun. I couldn't...he wouldn't listen, I...I had to do what...what needed to be done." He was shaking as he stopped talking, getting a far off look in his eyes, the girls were just shell shocked, Yang choked up a little, Weiss was paralyzed to see him like this, Blake had her fists clenched at her sides, and Ruby was already full on crying.

The four looked to eachother and nodded, getting up and going to him, surrounding him, and hugging him tightly. He jumped slightly as he got brought back from his memories. Looking at the four as he pulled his arms out of the slightly crushing mega hug to wrap them around his small family and bring them in close, looking out the window and seeing a golden figure nodding to him before fading away. He pulled the girls closer as he smiled, whispering something they all caught.

"I told you it wasn't over, seems you still believe it too Solaire."

* * *

After that, Ozpin simply had someone send Team RWBY their homework for the day, sensing that they'd want to watch over Armos after what happened. He understood fully, he'd want to watch over any family members that were having _problems_ like Armos's, so the girls got a free pass. Glynda might not agree with it, but he still believed Armos would be a invaluable resource in the coming year. But for now, he had much more urgent problems he had to deal with as he pulled out his scroll and answered his newly recived call. From general Ironwood. "Ozpin, we know you've kept things, or should I say _a thing_ from us.

 **Cliffhanger! (sorta)**

 **Once again, i apologize for my horrendous absence, but i'm so swamped in school that it's hard to get any downtime. I hope you can forgive me.**

 **But tell me, what do you think of this new chapter? Good? Bad?**

 **'Till next time guys.**


	5. (AN: An announcement for all of you)

**I'm sorry guys, I just need a while with this story off my mind, i'm just struggling with what to do and i'm sorry, I really am. I just need time away from it, I can't get anything done with it and it's stressing me out, but I've had two very good ideas to help fill the void of this in the meantime, i'll put a poll on my profile and we'll see what all of you guys think.**

 **Honestly, I love this story, and I know a lot of you do as well, I just need time to think.**

 **I appreciate everything you guys have said about this story, but were stopping production for a while.**

 **This story won't be forgotten, I promise.**


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